The percentage of Americans who believe Jews were responsible for killing Jesus has grown in recent years, although it remains a view held by a minority of people, according to a poll released Friday.

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found 26 percent of respondents believe Jews were to blame for the Crucifixion, up from 19 percent in ABC News poll in 1997.

The greatest increase was among young people and blacks.

Thirty-four percent of those under age 30 now believe Jews were responsible, compared to 10 percent in 1997, the Pew Center said. And 42 percent of blacks hold that view, compared to 21 percent seven years ago.

The poll was conducted amid controversy over Mel Gibson's epic "The Passion of the Christ." Some say the film unfairly portrays the role of Jews in Jesus' death, while Gibson and others insisted the movie is not anti-Semitic and is faithful to Gospel accounts.

Funny, I was watching O'Reilly a couple of weeks ago and he had a guy on from a major research group(can't remember the name) and he said the numbers of people that believed the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ had gone down. I guess it varies from poll to poll. I personally thought the movie made the Romans look worse than the Jews.

I just have to say this, I've been wanting to say this for so long. Why is it nowadays when someone says they are a prophet or the son of God, or the Messiah we lock them in a mental institutution, yet every God-based religion is based on ideas from people who did just that at the time they were alive?

I'm truly not trying to insult Jesus, who I believe was a good and gentle person, or Mohammed, or Moses or anyone else. I just find the juxtaposition kind of funny.

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